420Update Does A Special Report On Kratom

Politics are in the spotlight recently due to the Presidential election of 2016. Many citizens are inspecting and questioning our representative democracy in action. Elections are the vehicle in which the citizenry choose our representatives to govern and enforce the will of the people. Unfortunately most positions and organizations within the government are not chosen by citizens. Nobody within the Drug Enforcement Agency was elected to their job. There is no term limit assigned to any position within the DEA. In the past two months, the DEA has made two decisions that run contrary to common sense, public sentiment, and the safety of the public.

DEA MANDATE:
The DEA has the sole responsibility for coordinating and pursuing US drug investigations both domestic and abroad. The DEA is tasked with enforcing the Controlled Substance Act.

This mandate seems simple and direct. However, the DEA also decides what herbs, drugs, and dietary supplements are on the enforcement list. The DEA works in conjunction with the FDA to target and “schedule” potentially dangerous drugs in the name of public safety.

August 11th 2016:
DEA has denied two petitions to reschedule marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). In response to the petitions, DEA requested a scientific and medical evaluation and scheduling recommendation from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which was conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in consultation with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Based on the legal standards in the CSA, marijuana remains a schedule I controlled substance because it does not meet the criteria for currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, there is a lack of accepted safety for its use under medical supervision, and it has a high potential for abuse.

August 30th 2016:
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) today announced its intention to place the active materials in the kratom plant into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act in order to avoid an imminent hazard to public safety. Kratom has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and has a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision.

Schedule 1 classification signifies the most dangerous drugs on the planet. Drugs with no medical benefit, a high risk for abuse, and a danger to public safety. The DEA works with the FDA to determine what drugs, herbs, and dietary supplements should be scheduled. The DEA is charged with enforcing the list and they have the power to determine what drugs are on the list. These dual roles all take place in the absence of public scrutiny and opinion.

The entire bureaucratic system that takes place behind closed doors creates a catch 22 for herbs placed on the schedule 1 list. The scheduling restricts access to research to prove medical benefit; therefore the DEA’s limited research conclusions remain the first and final decision. These decisions are made without the same scientific standard the DEA requires to be removed or rescheduled. Take cannabis for example:
No human has ever died from an overdose of cannabis in the history of the world. You can’t even say that about water!
The DEA itself has admitted cannabis is not physically addicting.
There are millions of examples of anecdotal evidence showing cannabis aides in treating illness. Examples from helping chemotherapy patients to victims of epilepsy are easily documented throughout society.
The fact that the DEA reaffirmed the schedule 1 classification of cannabis flies in the face the of the very criteria it lists as a working standard. It flies in the face of common sense and public safety.

The DEA has denied an honest evaluation of cannabis for decades. The recent kratom classification has come after only a few years of popularity in the United States. Kratom is a plant that grows naturally in Asia. Kratom has been a natural alternative for people seeking pain relief and those seeking to kick addictions to opiates. The plant has been a miracle for hundreds of thousands of US citizens. Eating powder from leaves of the plant helps people avoid addictive and dangerous pain medications. Kratom has allowed prescription opioid addicts to return to a life of normalcy in function and spirit. Kratom has been classified as a schedule 1 drug with miniscule evidence of harm & abuse, and a ton of anecdotal evidence in society of medical benefit.

Not classified as schedule 1 controlled substances are opioid prescription painkillers.
165 thousand US citizens have died from prescription opioid overdose from 1999 to 2014.
In 2014 nearly 2 million Americans abused or were dependent on prescription opioids.
Every day 1,000 people visit emergency rooms for misusing prescription opioids.
We know we have a problem with prescription opioid painkillers in the United States. The problem can easily be traced back to the DEA & the FDA and their system for scheduling drugs. One thing is very clear from the recent affirmation and scheduling of cannabis and kratom: US citizens are going to die as a result.

The DEA must change the methodology in which they classify drugs. Instead of forcing scientists to risk their freedom and safety to prove the efficacy of natural herbal plants that have been scheduled as the most dangerous drugs on the planet, the DEA should have to scientifically prove its criteria for the natural herbs to be scheduled. It should have to prove the case of no medical benefit, potential for abuse, and a risk to the public. It should also open up the scheduling process to public comment and scrutiny.

Our lives as American citizens can be chaotic and busy enjoying the greatest country on Earth. We appoint our representatives in government to take care of policy and procedures with our best interest in mind. When government over reaches and creates policy that runs against common sense and the interest of the general public, it is up to us to let our elected officials know there is a problem.

Here is a link to find your congressional representative. Contact them via email or phone call and let them know the DEA process for scheduling natural herbs as a part of the Controlled Substances Act is wrong and causing harm. Share this blog if prescription painkillers have adversely affected your life or someone you know. For the sake of public safety, we as citizens in a representative democracy cannot allow government agencies to take away natural safe alternatives from the people who need them the most.